‘Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them.' This use of the word ‘host' is unusual. Here it signifies the totality of creation, including sun, moon and stars, the different types of vegetation, fish, creatures and animals, and man, everything contained therein. Nothing... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made, and he rested (ceased work) on the seventh day from all the work which he had made. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because that in it God rested from all his work which God had created and made.' Note the distinction... [ Continue Reading ]
‘These are the generations of (or this is the history of) the heavens and the earth when they were created.' This apparent colophon suggests that the account was once recorded separately on a clay or stone tablet.... [ Continue Reading ]
MAN'S ESTABLISHMENT AND FALL (GENESIS 2:4 TO GENESIS 3:24) TABLET II. Genesis 2 and Genesis 3 form a unit distinguished by the fact that God is called Yahweh Elohim (Lord God), a usage repeated, and constantly used, all the way through (apart from in the conversation between Eve and the serpent), a... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TREE-COVERED PLAIN IN EDEN (GENESIS 2:4). ‘In the day that the Lord God made earth and heavens, when no plant (siach) of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb (‘eseb) of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to serve t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.' The word for ‘formed' is, among other uses, used of the potter shaping his material, and the writer, who by a quick reading of the rest of the narrative is sho... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the Lord God planted a tree-covered area (gan - possibly a “place shaded over” i.e. by trees) in Eden, eastward, and there he put the man whom he had formed.' The word ‘planted' is a vivid anthropomorphism. God caused it to grow. The word ‘gan' signifies a protected place of fruitfulness. The... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, also the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowing good and evil.' Here we have ‘made to grow' instead of ‘planted', confirming what we have said above. He not only pu... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And a river flowed out of Eden to water the plain, and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon, it is the one which flows round the whole land of Havilah where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good, and aromatic resin and onyx stone are there. The na... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Tree-covered Plain of Eden to serve and to guard.' Notice that the man has already been ‘put' in the Plain in Genesis 2:8. This stresses again that the writer is not thinking chronologically. One event does not necessarily follow another. While he is... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the Lord God commanded the man saying, “You may freely eat of every tree in the Plain, but concerning the tree of knowing good and evil you shall not eat of it, for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die”.' God's provision is wide and generous. The man may eat of anything grown in t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper who is suitable for him (literally ‘as in front of him')”. And out of the ground the Lord God formed (or had formed) every beast of the field, and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept, and he took one of his sides and closed up its place with flesh. And the side that he had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.' The deep sleep, when God will do something exceptional and a myster... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then the man said, “This one at this time now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, this one shall be called Woman (isha) because this one was taken out of Man (ish)”.' The woman is not just produced from one of his ribs, but is made up of his flesh and bones. The man names the woman, thus on... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Therefore will a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they will become one flesh.' It is because of this close relationship between a man and his mate that that relationship supersedes that of his parents. When they enter into sexual union they become one, bound in a relatio... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.' This does not primarily mean naked before each other, but naked before God. Their state of total innocence meant that they were unashamed of who and what they were. They had nothing to hide from, and no need to fear God's scrutiny. Th... [ Continue Reading ]